A little Lenten story

The priest asked me to come and help with an afternoon christening at church, which I did. His wife (another priest) kindly entertained the children while I helped host the family gathered around the font.

After the service was over, I went next door to the vicarage while the priest closed up the church. We were just sitting down to our cups of tea when he piled in with a bemused and slightly exasperated affect.

“I’ll have my tea,” he said, “but then I’ll have to go back. They filled up the holy water stoop with loose change! I’ll have to clean it out and re[dedicate? I don’t remember quite what he said, but you get the gist] it.”

So he drank his tea and wandered back across the lawn, while his wife and I watched our children at play and wondered idly why the coins should contaminate the water, rather than the water sanctify the well-meant and only slightly misplaced offerings.